Happy Hoppity Easter!

WELCOME EASTER!

I had a LOT of fun this year decorating for Easter.... I just wish there wasn't such a quick turn-around between St. Patrick's Day and E-day!  I do think I'll be able to keep most of these items up for awhile - or atleast scale back on the bunnies and eggs to make it "Spring Appropriate"!  :)

I used a lot of the same decorations from last year - it's fun to build on the crafted items I have year-to-year.  You'll recognize my mod podged eggs and 'candle sticks' from last year but I've added a new garland, some fun Bunny terrariums and an adorable bunny canvas to the mix too.

THE MANTLE:

Lots of found items this year.... 

Cookbooks, light aqua flower pots, my cookie jar and an adorable girl bunny I found last year at Hobby Lobby

birdhouse, egg candlestick, clear cylinder vase (clearance find at TJMaxx for $5.50!  I meant to put some plastic eggs in there - oops!)

my new garland - white doilies run through the sewing machine a few times with different colored threads!  so simple and so sweet!  also this great green pom yarn that I got at Christmas time

I FINALLY got around to painting some of my clear jars!  I used acrylic paint in an ombre effect of turquoise & aqua... so pretty!  These are definitely staying up through Spring!  I added some Dollar Store Easter Egg sticks!

The Full mantle - wait to you see those Easter Bunny Terrariums!

the right side features more of the same but in a different way - fresh flowers in a vase, another cute bunny from Hob Lob and more cookbooks!

I love the colorful spines on the Martha Stewart monthly cookbooks!

THE EASTER BUNNY TERRARIUMS:

My inspiration was this pin I've found via Pinterest:

I apologize - I can't find the source!  It's a private blog....

Obviously these are all edible - I took my own look at how to put one of these together...

I purchased two of these little figurines at The Dollar Store for... you guessed it!  $1.00 each!  :)

Then I gave them a thick coat of white spray paint... and it's NOT perfect (so don't look too close, eh?)

I was GOING to try and fit these guys in large mason jars but wouldn't ya know it - they were TOO big!  So plan B:  I found these glass vases at TJMaxx for $5.00 each - AND the best part is I can use them for other things!  The paper Easter grass is just sitting in there around the bunnies which are NOT glued down!  I actually have them precariously sitting on two rolls of washi tape that the Easter grass just BARELY conceals!  HA!

After that I added some Robin Egg candies and Egg gums... I figure since the grass is just paper that makes the eggs still edible, right?  Don't worry - I've been trying hard NOT to sneak them when I walk by.... 

Then I added a pretty yellow ribbon bow and have them flanking my painted ombre jars!  I LOVE IT!  I don't usually have much symmetry on this center portion of my mantle... not sure why, it's just not my thing but I really like it!

 From there I just added the little touches around other areas of the house - I usually keep decorations to the main areas - living room/dining room//front hallway:

The bookcase in our dining area - 

My 'infamous' B!  With a little added whimsy of colorful fabric!  And another egg....

Another credenza in our hallway - floral fabric (from my stash) to act as a runner, birdcage with selvedge tie, DIY apothecary jar with glitter eggs, bunny candy dish and antique tin.  Easter egg garland was a great find last year at Target!

Some new artwork!  I found this awesome idea via Pinterest:

Source: Eclectically Vintage

HOW CUTE is that Bunny?  

I used the same idea - found a bunny silhouette by googling "silhouette of bunny rabbit" (seriously - it's THAT easy!)  Then I cut it out, used it as a template and cut it out of some turquoise glitter paper - the frame too!  Then I glued it to some precious floral print paper and voila!  Hung on a 3M hook with some more pretty yellow ribbon and it's ALL SET!

 Same idea with this cute bunny art too - the inspiration via Pinterest:

Source: Clean and Scentsible

My girls and I are suckers for pink so we painted an 8x10 canvas pink then I free-handed the bunny outline.  (I didn't have as EASY a time googling the silhouette I wanted in the size I wanted...)  Then added a cute scrapbook paper and jute string garland and the 3D effect - the bunny tail!  I thought this was THE cutest idea ever!!!!

My front entry has a little 'vignette':  pretty fabric and found items from around the house

I love the fabric scraps tied on my DIY apothecary jars!

and now - my FAVORITE part of our house!  The front 'porch'!
And yes, I know I should've atleast sweeped before taking this pic!  :(

I LOVE this wreath!  I was inspired by some amazing wreaths I saw on (yep, I'm going to say it - again!) PINTEREST!  I love the addition of lace, ric rac, glitter Easter eggs and ALL of the different types of flowers - ric rac, felt, fabric, paper!!!  INFATUATED FOR SURE.

The color inspiration was the gorgeous outdoor fabric you can see on the pillow above!  :)  JoAnn's!

So.... what do you have up in your house for Easter/Spring?

Happy St. Patrick's Day Decor 2013

I got out my 'green stuff' right the week after Valentine's Day.... partly because my house needed dusting and it made it easier to take hearts and such down to do that and partly because I had those decorations up early!  It'll be a wacky month with Easter so soon after St. Pat's - I'll need to be more organized it seems but that's ok.  I have a HUGE amount of Easter decor from last year so it'll be 'easy'.  Or so I think.  I am working on some new stuff though - a wreath and some cute mason jar/Easter bunny decorations.  Maybe I'll be able to give you a peek next time I post on here!  

Anyhow - back to St. Pat's:  obviously not a huge holiday in a lot of houses - I had a great time last year fooling the girls with green milk and Lucky Charms as a breakfast treat (which I might add, I ATE all of!)  I'm hoping I can come up with some new ideas - thankfully Pinterest is around!  :)

Here's a peek in my house at my decorations for this year - see if you can spot some of my new additions!

The bookcase in our dining room - houses cookbooks, books, photo albums, and a few random odds & ends.  I found lots of 'green' things to add some interest and turned out our green wedding album too!

my mantle is comprised of lots of found items - green photo albums and books, mixing bowls and green ribbon tied around found objects!  :)

Looking down the mantle.... 

My St. Patty's Day printable from eighteen25.blogspot.com

big yellow lab not exactly St. Patty's Day worthy - he needs a green bandana!

more found objects - new decor is the cute wood block "irish" decor from JoAnn's

my new garland!  I like the colors in this one better - more muted and not as neon/lime green as last year's!  I found this great idea via Pinterest from lilluna.com.  It features vintage maps of Ireland and distressed green cardstock hearts strung on jute!  

this little lady is getting pretty insistent on having her picture taken more often.  I'm happy to oblige!

my console table in the dining room - green zebra print runner, Ireland travel guides and apothecary jars with pots of gold (Rolos)!

this great printable is from: www.landeeseelandeedo.com

my front entry sideboard has a scrap of green fabric, mercury jars with green ribbon and another cute wooden irish decoration from JoAnn's

later on I added this cute button shamrock art - I made it at my first Pinterest Party!  Such fun!  The inspiration is from here: www.oopseydaisyblog.com

Do you decorate for St. Patrick's Day?  I know I'm probably overboard for doing it but I figure while my girls are young it's fun for them to celebrate all the holidays!  Hopefully they remember it when they're older!  Celebrate the Irish on the 17th and drink a green beer - I know I will!  :)

Another Pinterest Experiment - The Floor Cushion

I pinned something on Pinterest prior to Christmas and was HOPING to have it completed in time to give as a gift to my little, BUT as usual; I tried doing too many projects and was soon overwhelmed.

I Finally, FINALLY I got around to making this cute little pouf.

PRINCESS APPROVED!

The tutorial was created by Susan of Living with Punks.  Her blog is great!  Lots of fun and easy to follow tutorials!  :)  Here's a peek at the pouf she made:

Source: Living with Punks

Here's a peek at how mine turned out:

I Can Sew For Myself!

Ok, so I'm pretty proud of myself - for a few different reasons.  First off, I made the time and got a project done that I've been wanting to do for a month!  Second - I made something for MYSELF and third (though not as important) - I used up some fabric that I've had in my stash for about 3 years.  :)

I made a skirt and it's all mine!  Not for a friend, not for my Etsy shop (although I should get off my tush and make something new to put in there) and not for one of my kids!  Yeah for me!  I found this great tutorial ages ago via Etsy:  Sew A Skirt In One Hour.  It had plain, easy to follow instructions and I figured - I could easily do this!  I also incorporated some things I've learned making these skirts for my daughter's too:  Lil Blue Boo's apron skirt tutorial

This fabric was just begging for me to do something with it and I was happy to oblige!  I love all the great colors in it (can you find the celery green and the pale pink?) and although the main 'rust' color in the fabric is not something I would normally wear I figured if anything at all - it would pair REALLY, really well with a chambray shirt.  :)

I was planning on making something a bit more advanced 'sewing skills-wise' - something like this:

Source: vievesscrapbooking

But instead I decided to just keep things simple my first time around.  (I'll make this one next time!!!!)  I made the EASIEST ever gathered waist skirt.  My big challenge this time around?  Making a blind hem stitch.  It's a lot easier than it sounds, especially using a great tutorial like this:  No Big Dill's Blind Stitch Tutorial.  (Just a note - I just used my regular sewing machine foot to do this - no special foot for me!)

Here's a peek at how my hem ended up looking:

And my finished product:

Some things about this skirt I don't love:  there is a LOT of fabric around that waist so it's kind of 'thick'  for lack of a better word.  That's why I like the alternative skirt shown above - the plain waistband with a bow tied front would allow for a lot less material right at the waist - but, overall I think this turned out so cute and can't wait to wear it more!